CANADA STOCKS-TSX slips as large gold miners, big banks weigh

TORONTO, April 13 (Reuters) - Canada’s main stock index slipped in morning trade on Thursday as its largest gold miners weighed along with some big banks and energy stocks.

The most influential weights on the index included Barrick Gold Corp, the world’s largest gold miner, which fell 1.6 percent to C$26.44 as prices for the precious metal edged off a five-month high.

Analysts say Barrick must take steps to safeguard investor confidence by ensuring there are no more operating mishaps at its mines after a third incident in 18 months at its big Argentina mine.

Financial stocks were slightly lower as U.S. banking season kicked off with JPMorgan and Citi both reporting profit that exceeded expectations and Wells Fargo reporting flat profit and a fall in revenue.

Royal Bank of Canada pulled back 0.3 percent to C$95.82 and Bank of Nova Scotia fell 0.4 percent to C$76.49.

The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.7 percent.

Canadian new home prices rose in February, driven by higher costs in Toronto and other cities in Ontario, Statistics Canada said on Thursday in a report that was likely to underscore concerns that some markets are becoming too hot.

Canadian manufacturing sales declined less than expected in February after three consecutive months of increases, weighed down by declines in the vehicle assembly sector, separate StatsCan data showed.